1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of drums and drumheads and, more particularly to a convertible drumhead that is installable on a conga or any conventional drum shell utilizing an annular tensioning hoop mounted peripherally below the drumhead surface, and can be played as a single headed hand held instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Drumheads used in combination with various types of drum shells have long been known in the art. Examples are heads which range from the relatively crude and unsophisticated, such as those using an animal skin stretched over the opening at one end of a drum shell, to the more sophisticated and conventional, such as those which employ the vastly improved synthetic materials from which many contemporary pretuned and non-pretuned drumheads are fashioned.
Congas, in contrast to the more familiar tom-toms, snare and bass drums that are used so often today in many contemporary bands and orchestras, enlist a special kind of head construction and tensioning mechanism. Generally, the head of a conga drum is constructed by first creating a flesh hoop, which is normally formed by wrapping an animal skin around the edges of a large ring and securing the skin to the ring by tucking it under the ring or by using any other appropriate means of attachment. The flesh hoop is then stretched over the opening at the top of the conga drum shell and secured and tensioned there with a counter-hoop in combination with any suitable tensioning mechanism. Alternatively, the animal skin can be stretched over the top end of a drum shell and then nailed in place with a series of tacks evenly distributed around the shell. Years ago, counter-hoops were fashioned from relatively crude materials that might have included a bendable tree branch, a braided or twisted rope or some similar item used for this purpose. Modern day versions of the counter-hoop are generally made of metal or occasionally a hard plastic material that is capable of withstanding the rigors and stress of the tensioning process.
To position a conga drum counter-hoop properly, the device is guided over the top of the drumhead until it eventually comes to rest upon the ring component of the flesh hoop. There, using, for example, any rope-like material, intertwisted strands of fibre or leather cord to connect the counter-hoop to the drum shell, the counter-hoop is drawn tightly in a downward direction stretching the flesh hoop to create a taut head to serve as a striking surface for the drum. Appropriate adjustments to the flesh hoop will then tension the head to achieve the desired tonality.
Counter-hoops used in conjunction with conga drums must, by necessity, be situated and secured to the shell below the actual head surface. A conga drummer plays the instrument by repeatedly striking the head with portions of the hands and fingers to create a pleasing rhythmic sound. Since the playing surface extends to the extreme perimeter or rim portion of the head, that area must remain totally unobstructed. Not only will this ensure that the drum will be played properly, but also that, in the process, the hands and fingers will avoid pain or possible serious injury that could result from repeatedly striking forcefully a metal counter-hoop jutting out above the drumhead surface.
Conga drumheads today are generally constructed either of a resilient paper, paper-like or economical synthetic product, which is used to manufacture inexpensive instruments considered usually to be no more than toys or, as explained previously, of an animal skin or some of the more expensive and resilient synthetic materials stretched tightly across the top of the drum shell used mostly with sophisticated instruments that are intended for serious musicians. Traditionally, neither type of head is pretuned.
When the head of an inexpensive or toy-like conga drum becomes damaged or worn, the entire drum is usually replaced. For economical reasons, repairing an instrument of this kind is normally not justified in these instances. In contrast, the professional head might require some minor repair occasionally, though replacement is preferred when the damage to the head is of a more serious nature. The installation and retuning of a seriously worn or defective professional type of conga drumhead is very often time consuming and a bit difficult to accomplish. The tensioning mechanism and the hoop first must be detached from the head. The head itself is then removed. Thereafter, the repaired or replaced head is saturated with water, then reattached to the shell and finally retuned after it completely dries using the counter-hoop and the tensioning mechanism to adjust the head to the desired tonality.
Conventional drums, such as tom-toms, snare drums and bass drums, also employ a counter-hoop, which is mounted on the rim of the head using any suitable clamping mechanism to ensure that the head is properly tensioned and tuned. The standard counter-hoop is typically comprised of metal and is round to conform to the shape of the head. The hoop is placed around the rim of the drumhead where it projects slightly above the head surface. The counter-hoop is fastened to the shell using a series of lugs tightly affixed and spread evenly around the exterior surface of the shell. Additionally, a corresponding series of rods connected at one end to the counter-hoop and to a mating lug at the other end are rotated to a prescribed tightness until the drumhead is appropriately tensioned and tuned to the proper tonality. Since the drum is played by repeatedly striking the approximate central portion of the head with one or more drum sticks, the upwardly projecting rim mounted counter-hoop will not normally interfere with the proper playing of the instrument or obstruct the sticks or hands in the playing process.
Accordingly, a conga drum head that utilizes a counter-hoop mounted below the drumhead surface is generally not compatible with a standard drum shell. Likewise, a drumhead using a rim mounted counter-hoop is generally not compatible with a conga shell.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a convertible drumhead for use with all types of pretuned and non-pretuned drums, including tom-toms, snare, bass, and conga drums, that can be played without the obstruction and inconvenience of a rim mounted counter-hoop, can withstand the stress forces associated with the tensioning process without disturbing the integrity of the instrument, can easily and quickly be installed and removed from the drum shell for repair or replacement and also can be played as a single headed hand held drum.